Choose the right Rain Garden

Why Should I Use This Tool?

We hope this tool raises your awareness of siting considerations that can lead to both a less costly and more environmentally friendly rain garden. This “Choose the Right Rain Garden” decision tree (i.e. wizard) helps users arrive at and implement the rain garden configuration that best suits their site conditions. Additional information and tips are offered below each question and many pages have illustrative graphics to help you choose the answer that reflects your conditions.

While rain gardens alone will probably not fully protect or restore your watershed, the goal of this wizard is to help you avoid the most complicated and therefore most costly to build and maintain configuration, the lined filtration rain garden. Throughout Oregon, these facilities don’t mimic pre-developed hydrology; additional runoff volumes (aka hydromodification ) flowing in and out of a lined facility are likely to damage downstream waterways, impacting water quality, habitat, and availability. In addition, they cost more to build and maintain.

What if I Don’t Understand or Know the Answer to a Question?

We recognize that you may not have answers to all the questions, but only questions truly relevant to water quality and cost have been asked. If you need more information, footnotes below each question provide important general information. Clicking on the symbol will provide you with detailed information including step by step guidance, agency contacts, or online resources, as applicable. You may also want to experiment now, first answering conservatively, to see what configurations the decision tree takes you to.